Breech-loading fire-arm



W. H BRIGGS,

BREEOH LOADINGFIRE ARM.

(No Model.)

No. 245,779. Patented Aug. 16,1881.

WQ'MO UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. BRIGGS, OF UHIGOPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS.

BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION formingpart .of Letters Patent No. 245,779, dated August 16, 1881.

Application filed January 21, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom at may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. BRIGGS, a citizen of England, residing at Ohicopee Falls, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the details of construction of a pivoted breech-piece and an operating-lever therefor adapted to operate said breech-piece and the hammer, and to improvements in firing-pin devices, adapting them to act upon either acenter or rim fire cartridge, the object being to strengthen and simplify the construction of breech-loading arms which are adapted to be operated by a single lever to open the breech of the gun, extract the cartridge, and cook the hammer at one movement of saidlever.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of the breech part of a fire-arm,showing the operating parts of the breech-work and the cartridge-chamber of the barrel and the cartridge therein. Fig. 2 is also a side elevation, partly in section, showing the position of the operating parts of the breech-work when thebreech is open and the cartridge'shell partly extracted. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the breech-piece and the firing-pin devices. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the breech-piece.

A is the breech-frame. B is the barrel. d is the pivoted breech-piece. c is the operatinglever. a is the hammer. e is the firing-pin. c is the pivoted cartridge-striker. i is an extractor-arm on the breech-piece d. t" is the extractor. 2 and 3 are striking-points on the "cartridge-striker c.

In this arm the barrel B is attached to the frame Ain the usual manner. v Under the cartridge-chamber, in the rear end ot' the barrel, is drilled a hole for the reception of the longitudinal portion of the cartridge-extractor 1',

said breech-pieceis pivoted, as shown, in frame A, under the cartridge-chamber of the barrel, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,and is provided with an arm, 0, hanging below its pivot. The portion s of the breech-piece d, which covers the cartridge when the breech is shut, is provided with a narrow cavity, 0, the width of which is shown in Fig. 4, and a side view of which is shown in Fig. 3, in which is pivoted the cartridge striker e. Said cartridge striker is .provided with two striking-points, 2 and 3, lo'

cated on the opposite sides of said striker,one of which, 3, is adapted to strike the center of a center-fire cartridge-head in the gun, and the other one, 2, to strike the rim of a car tridge when a rim-fire cartridge is used. The said cartridge-striker is secured in the cavity of the breech-piece by a transverse pin, 4), passing through said breech-piece and through the upper portion of said striker, so that the lower portion of the striker may have a vibratory movement within said cavity.

In the position in which the strikeris shown in Fig. 3 the striking-point 3 stands in a position to strike the center of a cartridge-head, as also shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. To adapt said striker to be used with a rim-fire cartridge, pin 1; is withdrawn, the striker is removed from the cavity, turned around to bring the striking-point 2 outward, replaced in the cavity, and may now be used to explode a rim-fire cartridge, as the striking-point 2 stands opposite to the lower side of the cartridge-chamber.

The firing-pin e is slotted transversely across its inner end, and the lower end of the striker 0 lies in said slot, and said firing-pin is located in a proper line and position in the breech-piece d to be struck by the hammer a.

The lever c is pivoted in frame A, near its lower side, as shown, and runs back under the frame, and its extreme end is bent up and caught upon a stud, a, set in the under side of the frame in the usual way, as shown in Fig. 1. The end 0 of said lover a, above its pivotpoint in frame A, reaches up under the breechpiece d, as shown in Fig. 1, when the breech is closed, as there shown, holding the breechpiece firmly in a closed position against the end of the cartridge.

The hammer and its operating parts are of the ordinary construction, except that the hammer is adapted to swing under the breech-piece when the latter closes against the end of the barrel, and is of such form as to be operated upon by lever c, as and for the purpose hereinafter stated.

The operation of the lever c, breech-piece d, and the hammer a when the breech is opened and an empty cartridge-shell extracted is as follows: The lower end of lever c is forcibly swung off from the stud 00, and the lower end of the lever swung from thence toward the muzzle of the barrel to the position shown in Fig. 2. In so swinging said lever its upper end, 0 first strikes against the hammer a, moving it away from the firing-pin and swinging it back from under the end of the breechpiece. As soon as the hammer has been so moved the said upper end of lever c has also passed from under the breech-piece, and its forward side below its pivot-point will then strike against the lower end of the arm 0 on the breech-piece, causing said breech-piece to swing upon its pivot down to the position shown in Fig. 2. By the above described movement of lever c the hammer will have tridge may now be inserted into the barrel and lever 0 swung back to the position shown in Fig. l, carrying with it the breech-piece at up against the end of the barrel, in which position it will be readily locked by the end of lever 0, above its pivot-point, standing under breech-piece in the frame of a fire-arm under the end of the barrel and support such breechpiece in a closed position against the end of the barrel by a lever pivoted in said frame, as

in Oochrans patent of May 7, 1872, and I do not claim such construction broadly; but

What I claim as my invention is 1. In combination, frame A, the breech-piece (I, having thereon the arm 0, extending below the pivot-point of lever c in said frame, and lever a hung close by said arm o, and having its end 0 extending from its pivotpoint up under said breech-piece, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination, frame A, the hammer a, the breech-piece 11, having thereon the arm 0, extending below the pivot-point of lever 0 in said frame, and said lever e hun g close by said arm 0, and having its end 0 extending from its pivot-point up under said breech-piece, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination, the breech-piece d, provided with the cavity 0, the reversible cartridge-striker 6, having thereon, upon opposite sides thereof, the striking-points 2 3, and the firing-pin e, substantially as set forth.

WILLIAM H. BRIGGS.

Witnesses: I

GEO. W. HADLEY, ETHAN HADLEY. 

